Podcasting’s Next Era: Chat Shows, Video Expansion & The New Advertising Landscape

Podcast: Right About Now - Legendary Business Advice
Host: Ryan Alford (The Radcast Network)
Guest: Jeff Umbro, Founder & CEO of Podglomerate
Date: December 9, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of Right About Now zeroes in on the fast-changing podcast industry. Host Ryan Alford is joined by Jeff Umbro, an influential figure and CEO of Podglomerate, to unravel how podcasting is evolving in terms of production, monetization, video adoption, and advertising. They dig deep into why audience understanding and adaptability are now the central pillars for long-term podcasting success, and reflect with candid anecdotes and hard-won advice for creators and business leaders navigating this creative ecosystem.

Key Topics and Insights

1. The Changing Face of Podcast Production (04:06–08:57)

• Scope Creep & Production Challenges

  • Both guests agree: podcast production is uniquely challenging, with deadline shifts and demanding clients making the process unpredictable.
    • Quote: “Production is such a funny business because when it goes right, it’s an amazing business. But when it doesn’t, which is most of the time, you just have crunched margins... Scope creep that feeds into every part of the business.” (Jeff, 04:24)

• Quality vs. ‘Good Enough’

  • Ryan shares his shift from ad agency polish to the ‘good enough’ podcasting mindset, stressing the balance between production values and practical limits.
    • Quote: “Is it good enough to keep and attract an audience versus your own ego versus a perceived magical place of perfection?” (Ryan, 06:04)

• Purpose & Audience Focus

  • Jeff emphasizes the necessity of clarifying goals—are you podcasting for personal passion, lead generation, or entertainment? The format and production rigor should reflect that purpose.

• Balancing Creator Ego and Audience Needs

  • Early mistakes are natural, and improvements are part of an ongoing process.
    • Quote: “There’s some turds in my first hundred. I was boring... I played small ball and I sounded like small ball. And really worried about the intro, outro, and—oh God, it sucked.” (Ryan, 05:59)

2. Audience Development: Retaining vs. Attracting Listeners (00:22; 06:57)

• Distinct Approaches for Growth
  • Attracting new listeners and retaining current ones require different strategies and metrics; creators must actively test, get feedback, and trust their instincts but always focus on what will engage the audience long-term.
  • Quote: “They’re two different arts and two different sciences... If you’re trying to bring in a net new person, you should only be paying attention to that to the extent of ‘I don’t want them to turn this off right when they hit play.’” (Jeff, 00:22, 06:57)

3. The Industry’s Evolution: From Quirky Roots to Corporate Consolidation (09:11–15:58)

• Jeff’s Journey into Podcasting

  • Jeff recounts starting as a fan (thanks to This American Life CDs in high school), moving into podcasting out of creative curiosity, and discovering business opportunities through requests from authors to promote their books.
  • Podglomerate’s growth: from ad sales, into production, into audience development—now a stable “three-legged stool” providing sustainability through revenue diversification.

• How Podcasting Changed

  • The industry, born from passion-driven creators, has become a space of rapid consolidation—big networks snap up successful shows and teams.

  • Shift to Video: Platforms like YouTube have incentivized video podcasting; while not always the right fit for the original audio-first audience, it attracts advertiser dollars and broadens reach.

    • Quote: “Video has become this massive part of podcasting... But you have a tech stack that was designed for one thing being used for another. It breaks all the time.” (Jeff, 11:21)

  • Rise of Programmatic Advertising:

    • Less reliance on direct ad sales, more automated marketplaces—great for scale but can mean lower CPMs.

  • The Decline of Narrative Podcasts:

    • Big-budget, story-driven series (“Bone Valley”, “Serial”) are declining as the economics change; advertisers prefer less serialized, evergreen chat formats.
      • Quote: “A lot of people who were previously investing in these big crazy narrative stories... are not able to do that anymore because they don’t have the same amount of money... Instead, they’re investing in a lot of chat shows.” (Jeff, 13:08)

4. Podcasting’s Identity Crisis & Future Directions (15:20–16:35)

• Fragmentation & the ‘Identity Crisis’

  • The space now includes everything: YouTube stars, traditional broadcasters, chat shows, and more. What’s missing is a clear business model for each type, and many creators don’t do the groundwork.

  • Quote: “Podcasting is having a little bit of an identity crisis. A lot of different things can exist simultaneously... but what’s the business model there?” (Jeff, 15:58)

• The Video Dilemma

  • Audio and video are different mediums; success in both is uniquely challenging.
    • Quote: “What’s audibly interesting is not always visibly interesting, and vice versa... I’m not sure the audio audience was really asking for video, but the advertising dollars and the demand for this style of content on YouTube... is getting attention.” (Ryan, 15:20)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Perfection and Ship-Ready Content:
  “We can polish a turd all day long.” (Ryan, 06:04)

• On Podcast Industry Shifts:
  “It’s kind of transitioning the entire landscape into something new. And the question becomes, do all of these millions of people who have really loved listening to these shows, do they want video?... I have my opinion on what that answer is, but that’s the landscape.” (Jeff, 14:50)

• On The Importance of Knowing Your Goals:
  “The first question I always ask, what are your goals for producing this show? And the second is, what are the listeners going to get from this show?” (Jeff, 06:57)

Important Timestamps

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------| | 00:22 | Difference between attracting vs. retaining audience | | 04:24 | Challenges and quirks of podcast production | | 06:04 | Learning when production is ‘good enough’ | | 06:57 | Goals, MVP, and audience development focus | | 09:11 | Jeff’s backstory & Podglomerate’s evolution | | 11:21 | Rise of consolidation and how video is changing podcasting | | 13:08 | Decline of narrative podcasts, advertiser influence | | 15:20 | Differences between audio and video, demand for video | | 15:58 | Podcasting’s ‘identity crisis’ and opportunity spaces |

Conclusion & Next Steps

Ryan and Jeff wrap up by encouraging creators and business owners to focus on their why: clarity on goals and a willingness to adapt are the only sure bets in this ever-morphing field. Whether you’re aiming for connection, revenue, or creative expression, a smart blend of intuition, feedback, and strategic alignment to evolving audience needs is essential.

• To connect with Jeff Umbro: visit podglomerate.com or find him on LinkedIn.
• For more about the podcast: check out ryanisright.com.

This summary captures the candid, often humorous, always practical tone of “Right About Now,” and distills the realities of today’s podcast business landscape—warts, wisdom, and all.